This Alaska Adventure was a combination wildlife photo safari shared with photographer friend, Loren, combined with some location shooting for my corporate client—for which the 400mm f/5.6L also proved to be invaluable.
I brought along 3 Canon bodies including a 5D, T1i and new T2i. Loren, also using Canon equipment, borrowed a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L for this trip. This provided us with a unique side-by-side comparison of the two 400s and quickly revealed why the f/2.8L is priced at over $7K— 5X the cost of my f/5.6L with more than 5X the benefits.
The only minor advantage I had using the smaller f/5.6L was the ability to handhold some fleeting out-the-window shots. Loren's use of the behemoth f/2.8L always required his use of a mono or tripod. In most situations we both used a tripod, where I expected the f/5.6L would compete well, but soon found that the big glass and wide aperture of Loren's f/2.8L allowed him easier and faster focusing.
When we both added 1.4x extenders, the decisive advantage went to the f/2.8L which still used the camera's auto focus. In my situation, adding the extender to the f/5.6L changed the minimum aperture to f/8.0 and reduced me to manual focusing only. It was no contest when we each tried to lock onto the numerous eagles soaring by along the coast. Loren was effective on almost every shot, whereas I had a very high percentage of "almost" great shots which were slightly out of focus (possibly exacerbated by my age-related deteriorating vision). Although I did come away with some winners as well!
When we both added 1.4x extenders, the decisive advantage went to the f/2.8L which still used the camera's auto focus. In my situation, adding the extender to the f/5.6L changed the minimum aperture to f/8.0 and reduced me to manual focusing only. It was no contest when we each tried to lock onto the numerous eagles soaring by along the coast. Loren was effective on almost every shot, whereas I had a very high percentage of "almost" great shots which were slightly out of focus (possibly exacerbated by my age-related deteriorating vision). Although I did come away with some winners as well!
As mentioned in my previous review, my intuition was that a 400mm lens with 8X magnification would not be long enough for Alaska. I was somewhat correct (obviously 500mm, 600mm or 800mm would have been better), but I was pleasantly surprised that a 400mm focal length, and 560mm with extender, was quite effective in most shooting situations involving large mammals and birds. The $300 extender was a bargain in providing a 25% increase in focal length for the 560mm option. The very sharp 400mm f/5.6L did not seem to suffer in that category when the 1.4x extender was used.
Comparing the results with this lens with the different camera bodies, the full-frame 5D clearly produced the best images; however I was extremely happy with the results from the new T2i even with the 1.6x crop factor. The higher ISO sensitivity of this new camera was amazing and the image quality with both the 400mm and 560mm with extender far exceeded my expectations.
Comparing the results with this lens with the different camera bodies, the full-frame 5D clearly produced the best images; however I was extremely happy with the results from the new T2i even with the 1.6x crop factor. The higher ISO sensitivity of this new camera was amazing and the image quality with both the 400mm and 560mm with extender far exceeded my expectations.
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